Also Called "Robber Crabs", These Crabs are Huge! (And Delicious if You Cook 'em Right!)
If you ever visit tropical islands--particularly those in the South or Western Pacific, you'll find stories of the giant land crabs... also known as coconut crabs or robber crabs. These giant crabs (sp. Birgus latro) are members of the "hermit crabs"--but get so big and mean, they eventually don't need to have the protection of a "found" shell (for which the other members of the hermit crab family are named).
When the coconut crabs are small, they resemble any of the other hermit crabs you'll find scurrying along on the beach. They will even be protecting themselves with the shells of dead mollusks they've found. Usually these shells are from top shells, turban shells, auger shells, or drupes. Because the coconut crabs grow so large, eventually they can't find shells big enough to protect them anyway... but they make up for this lack of "housing" by having the biggest, meanest, nastiest set of claws you've ever seen. These claws are so powerful that they can snap a broomstick and make a mess out of a metal pair of tongs.
The coconut crabs use these massive claws to not only climb coconut trees, but to snip off the coconuts and then tear through the coconut husk and shell to get at the sweet coconut meat.
This Squidoo lens will give you more information on these fascinating critters.
When the coconut crabs are small, they resemble any of the other hermit crabs you'll find scurrying along on the beach. They will even be protecting themselves with the shells of dead mollusks they've found. Usually these shells are from top shells, turban shells, auger shells, or drupes. Because the coconut crabs grow so large, eventually they can't find shells big enough to protect them anyway... but they make up for this lack of "housing" by having the biggest, meanest, nastiest set of claws you've ever seen. These claws are so powerful that they can snap a broomstick and make a mess out of a metal pair of tongs.
The coconut crabs use these massive claws to not only climb coconut trees, but to snip off the coconuts and then tear through the coconut husk and shell to get at the sweet coconut meat.
This Squidoo lens will give you more information on these fascinating critters.
Living With the Jungle Crustaceans! The Coconut Crabs!
When my family moved us to the Western Pacific Island of Guam, we were amazed by all the strange critters we were introduced to. And the coconut crab was one of those amazing critters.
We lived in the densely forested southern part of the island... at least 2-3 miles from any beach, high up on an ancient coral reef limestone plateau, so it surprised us to find hermit crabs wandering around in the "jungle" behind our new home. (We thought these critters would prefer being on or very close to a beach.)
At night when we left our windows open, we'd hear the crabs scrambling about in the leaves and underbrush behind our house. Sometimes they'd disturb a bird and get it squawking, sometimes they'd knock over some rocks, and sometimes, they'd even climb up the outside walls of our house then fall and clatter as they fell to the stoney ground at the backside of the house. Until we got used to this new type of strange noises, we had many sleepless nights for the first few months on the island. Occasionally, we'd hear a heavier thud outside our windows. Not something that a small hermit crab would make, but a noise that something quite a bit larger than your standard "hermit crab" would make. We didn't get the courage to go out and investigate--but we'd keep our doors locked and we'd hunker down for the night. When we checked around the house the next morning, we'd never find any evidence that anything big had visited our "backyard" (aka "the jungle").
We lived in the densely forested southern part of the island... at least 2-3 miles from any beach, high up on an ancient coral reef limestone plateau, so it surprised us to find hermit crabs wandering around in the "jungle" behind our new home. (We thought these critters would prefer being on or very close to a beach.)
At night when we left our windows open, we'd hear the crabs scrambling about in the leaves and underbrush behind our house. Sometimes they'd disturb a bird and get it squawking, sometimes they'd knock over some rocks, and sometimes, they'd even climb up the outside walls of our house then fall and clatter as they fell to the stoney ground at the backside of the house. Until we got used to this new type of strange noises, we had many sleepless nights for the first few months on the island. Occasionally, we'd hear a heavier thud outside our windows. Not something that a small hermit crab would make, but a noise that something quite a bit larger than your standard "hermit crab" would make. We didn't get the courage to go out and investigate--but we'd keep our doors locked and we'd hunker down for the night. When we checked around the house the next morning, we'd never find any evidence that anything big had visited our "backyard" (aka "the jungle").
If You're Going to Have a Crab On You, At Least Put It On a Shirt!
Less Painful that Way!
Close Encounters with a Giant Jungle Crustacean: The Coconut Crab!
A few months after we arrived on Guam, our next-door neighbors invited us over to see what they had caught in the boonies behind their home.
When we wandered over to their home, we saw them holding down a lid on a 50-gallon drum. Something inside was banging around trying to get out. They grabbed some heavy-duty tongs (like those used by iron-workers to move still-hot ingots) and removed the lid to reveal the biggest darn crab we had ever seen. Yup, it was a coconut crab. They threw in some halved coconuts and then put the lid back on the drum and weighted it down with some concrete-cinder blocks.
They explained that they planned on cooking this thing... and that they'd have to feed it coconuts for a while--maybe a week or two--to get the "bad stuff" out of its system before it would be safe to eat.
My sister and I would go over to their house every evening after school to watch the neighbors throw more coconuts into the drum to the hungry crab.
Then, two weeks later, our neighbors got a barbeque fire going in their backyard --ringed by cinder blocks -- they got a clean 50-gallon drum, filled it halfway with water, and placed it strategically over the fire. When the water started boiling, they went to the other 50-gallon drum where the crab was waiting, pulled it out with the big tongs and hefted it over to the boiling water where they dropped it into the water and slammed the lid on.
While the crab was cooking, our Moms got the potato salad out of the fridge, got salad ready, some barbequed chicken ready, and got some sodas out as well (our Dads got out some Primo and San Miquel beer!) for a sort of Guam-style luau party.
When the crab was bright red, it was hefted out of the drum... allowed to drain a bit... then placed on a large platter in the middle of the picnic table. We used a nut-cracking tool and a pair of pliers to break the legs and huge claws off so everyone could get some delicious crab meat to go along with the rest of the food.
When we wandered over to their home, we saw them holding down a lid on a 50-gallon drum. Something inside was banging around trying to get out. They grabbed some heavy-duty tongs (like those used by iron-workers to move still-hot ingots) and removed the lid to reveal the biggest darn crab we had ever seen. Yup, it was a coconut crab. They threw in some halved coconuts and then put the lid back on the drum and weighted it down with some concrete-cinder blocks.
They explained that they planned on cooking this thing... and that they'd have to feed it coconuts for a while--maybe a week or two--to get the "bad stuff" out of its system before it would be safe to eat.
My sister and I would go over to their house every evening after school to watch the neighbors throw more coconuts into the drum to the hungry crab.
Then, two weeks later, our neighbors got a barbeque fire going in their backyard --ringed by cinder blocks -- they got a clean 50-gallon drum, filled it halfway with water, and placed it strategically over the fire. When the water started boiling, they went to the other 50-gallon drum where the crab was waiting, pulled it out with the big tongs and hefted it over to the boiling water where they dropped it into the water and slammed the lid on.
While the crab was cooking, our Moms got the potato salad out of the fridge, got salad ready, some barbequed chicken ready, and got some sodas out as well (our Dads got out some Primo and San Miquel beer!) for a sort of Guam-style luau party.
When the crab was bright red, it was hefted out of the drum... allowed to drain a bit... then placed on a large platter in the middle of the picnic table. We used a nut-cracking tool and a pair of pliers to break the legs and huge claws off so everyone could get some delicious crab meat to go along with the rest of the food.
Coconut Crabs by the Bay! eBay... That Is!
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More Encounters with Giants! Giant Crabs, That Is!
When I lived in the University of Guam dormitories, we always had some kind of strangeness going on.
Hidden away from the main part of the campus, the two-story U-shaped dormitories were nestled into sort of a clearing next to a high ridge of boonies that overlooked a steep drop-off to an old coral-reef limestone forest that led further along to another drop-off to the wave-battered Eastern shoreline (no beaches). During storms, the wind would roar over that overlook and across to the dorms... howling through the louvered halls and whistling through the louvered and plastic-panel-walled rooms.
One stormy night during Christmas vacation when most of the dorm students were away on holiday with their folks, my room-mate and I were getting ready to get some sleep and we heard someone knocking at our door. When we opened the door there were two gals there, wrapped in towels, asking if we'd go downstairs and investigate something pounding and scratching at their door. My room-mate grabbed his spear-gun (he was an avid snorkeler and diver and spearing fish was one way he got occasional dinners)... and I grabbed a metal tennis racket (okay, my choice of weapon is sort of strange, but I could still hurt someone with it, if necessary).
We trudged down the dark hall, down the stairs and then back to the gals' room with the gals following us at a safe distance. The dorm was eerily quiet except for the noise of the wind howling outside--because very few students were there over the holidays.
My room-mate pushed their door open. It creaked on its rusty hinges as it swayed into the room. We could hear the banging and scratching at the back door of the room--the back door led to a "lanai" or "porch" that was raised above the ground level by about 4 feet and surrounded by 3-foot walls of solid concrete topped with aluminum railing. At a count of three, we poised ourselves to attack whatever was back there and opened the back door.
And started laughing.
There was a large coconut crab tied to a string on the railing of the lanai... and it was trying to get through the door by scratching, tapping, and banging on it.
The girls had forgotten that they had asked some of the other guys in the dorm to catch them a coconut crab so they could prepare it for a party later in the week. The guys had tied a string around the crab and had tied the other end of the string to the rail to keep the crab from going anywhere.
Hidden away from the main part of the campus, the two-story U-shaped dormitories were nestled into sort of a clearing next to a high ridge of boonies that overlooked a steep drop-off to an old coral-reef limestone forest that led further along to another drop-off to the wave-battered Eastern shoreline (no beaches). During storms, the wind would roar over that overlook and across to the dorms... howling through the louvered halls and whistling through the louvered and plastic-panel-walled rooms.
One stormy night during Christmas vacation when most of the dorm students were away on holiday with their folks, my room-mate and I were getting ready to get some sleep and we heard someone knocking at our door. When we opened the door there were two gals there, wrapped in towels, asking if we'd go downstairs and investigate something pounding and scratching at their door. My room-mate grabbed his spear-gun (he was an avid snorkeler and diver and spearing fish was one way he got occasional dinners)... and I grabbed a metal tennis racket (okay, my choice of weapon is sort of strange, but I could still hurt someone with it, if necessary).
We trudged down the dark hall, down the stairs and then back to the gals' room with the gals following us at a safe distance. The dorm was eerily quiet except for the noise of the wind howling outside--because very few students were there over the holidays.
My room-mate pushed their door open. It creaked on its rusty hinges as it swayed into the room. We could hear the banging and scratching at the back door of the room--the back door led to a "lanai" or "porch" that was raised above the ground level by about 4 feet and surrounded by 3-foot walls of solid concrete topped with aluminum railing. At a count of three, we poised ourselves to attack whatever was back there and opened the back door.
And started laughing.
There was a large coconut crab tied to a string on the railing of the lanai... and it was trying to get through the door by scratching, tapping, and banging on it.
The girls had forgotten that they had asked some of the other guys in the dorm to catch them a coconut crab so they could prepare it for a party later in the week. The guys had tied a string around the crab and had tied the other end of the string to the rail to keep the crab from going anywhere.
Night Flashlight View of Adult Coconut Crab "Ayuyu" in Limestone Hole, NCS Beach Jungle, Western Central Guam
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Get Some Flicks that Use the Tropics as a Setting--Maybe You'll Get a Glimpse of a Robber Crab!
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If You Want to See These Crabs Up Close and Personal, You'll Have to Go Someplace Tropical!
Don't Get Crabby.... Leave a Note!
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- Evelyn_Saenz Evelyn_Saenz Aug 25, 2009 @ 12:23 pm
- Does the coconut crab taste somewhat like a lobster? They certainly look similar.
by EditorDave
Living on Guam is what now "defines" me. It was such a dramatic difference in my life and outlook on things that there's no way I'd be the same...
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